Walawander challenges House District 12 incumbent
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MISSION VALLEY — It’s election season in the Mission Valley, and two local residents are running for the House District 12 seat in Montana’s legislature.
District 12 covers 334 square miles of Lake County from just south of Polson to St. Ignatius, and everything east of Dixon to Pablo and Ronan. Legislators serve two year terms and have the opportunity to serve on several committees between legislative sessions.
Challenger Luke Walawander and incumbent Daniel Salomon both believe they bring a lot to the table, though what they offer varies significantly.
Walawander works for Lake County Community Development Corporation and said that he deals with small businesses and governmental agencies of varying size on a daily basis. He’s worked with four different tribes, the Montana Department of Commerce and many local city councils, to name a few.
“I would be extremely relevant in (the legislature) arena,” Walawander said.
Salomon said he served five terms on his local school board, and as the incumbent, he served on several committees revolving around business, labor, education and agriculture.
“They were a good fit for me and for the Mission Valley,” Salomon said.
Salomon agreed that education, and specifically funding education, is a pressing issue.
“It’s the biggest slice of the pie,” Salomon said. “It takes up a tremendous amount of money, but it’s also very important. The world is changing, and so is education and how we look at education. Different teaching methods, what the kids learn and how they utilize it are all changing.”
Salomon also said he’d like to improve and expand natural resource opportunities in order to bring people and jobs to Western Montana, adding that during the last legislative session, Governor Schweitzer vetoed about 70 bills approved by the legislature, and in effect, negated much of the work and policies set forth by representatives.
“Jobs are always the issue,” Salomon said. “How we can get Montanans back to work is always the question. We did a lot of that in the Business and Labor Committee, but we did not have the success we’d hoped, as the governor vetoed most of what we wrote.”
In addition, Salomon hopes to have a surplus budget when those talks begin.
“We have to make sure that ongoing expenditures have enough money to be called sustainable — you call that a sustainable budget,” he said. “We had a tidal wave of opinion this last election ... I’d like to get back and get some of those (policies and legislation) done.”
Walawander’s three main issues he’d like to address, if elected, include economic development (specifically keeping jobs in Western Montana,) healthcare (specifically care for elderly citizens,) and education (specifically supporting teachers.) He plans to address these problems by building relationships between farmers, ranchers, small business owners and others in order to bridge party divides and come to an understanding.
“Education is a testament to where we want to go in the future,” Walawander said.
Walawander said that he grew up in Arlee, so for him, the past few years have meant a return home and a responsibility to the community. He believes that it’s not so much what you know, but who you can bring with you. By this, he means that he is seeking to build relationships and create dialogue across cultures and political picket lines.
“Now is not the time to be polarized,” he said. “We might have disagreements, but I’m always listening. I want to build a personal connection and disregard political ideals in the name of building relationships.”
